


going for a ride

by theninthmember



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Murder Mystery, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-20 15:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13720197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theninthmember/pseuds/theninthmember
Summary: “The point is this: If you had a choice, Taako, which fate would you give him?”Taako is forced to make a horrible decision, one where there is no third option.





	1. lock the doors and close the blinds

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic for a friend for her birthday, and am posting it here at her encouragement. Love you Sarah!!
> 
> The plot is based on [this](http://prinxe.tumblr.com/tagged/time-travel-au) [au](https://inkedinserendipity.tumblr.com/post/170099795821/call-me-dateanon-now-i-suppose-i-read-the) and Krav's backstory is loosely based on [tazdelightful's](https://tazdelightful.tumblr.com/post/169332228467/ask-me-about-my-kravitz-origin-story-in-which-he). This is a vaguely defined universe in which Lydia survived, and the fact that they are in wonderland is entirely a plot device, don't worry about it too much. 
> 
> Also, when writing this I was focusing mainly on plot, so if you’re looking for something with more prose I recommend trying out inkedinserendipity’s take on this prompt.
> 
> Title is from [I Can't Decide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0EBOFL_VwE) by Scissor Sisters.
> 
> I will update once a day until completed, hope you enjoy!

The thing about Taako was, he was selfish. He wanted things his way, and if it hurt someone, sometimes that’s just how it be.  
  
The thing about Kravitz was, he was pretty alright. Okay, maybe “alright” wasn’t the best word for his husband. But the alternative would be to say that Taako loved him, and hmm. That was a bit sappy.  
  
The thing about Lydia was, she was sadistic and cruel, and maybe harbored a bit of anger over the whole Wonderland debacle. And admittedly yeah, Taako and his friends did end up killing her brother, and trying to kill her, but still. Kinda petty.  
  
But the thing was, Lydia didn’t really care. She wanted vengeance, and when she couldn’t grab all tres of the Horny Boys, she settled for just one, who had happened to be with his husband at the time.  
  
They’d been trapped in Wonderland 2.0 for days. A board game, complete with giant dice that had almost crushed them multiple times, a score system, and, of course—  
  
“Uh-oh!” Lydia’s voice rang out from all around them. “You landed on the blue square! Looks like it’s going to be another mini-game!” Taako groaned. The last mini-game they’d played had consisted of a couple’s game show where wrong answers earned you a nasty electric shock.  
  
“Ooh, this is going to be a fun one!” Which is how Taako knew it was not, in fact, going to be fun. “Taako, darling, you know that Kravitz here used to be alive, correct?” Taako frowned, not liking where this was going.  
  
“Yeah,” he said warily.  
  
“And do you, by chance, remember what his big dream was, when he was mortal?” Taako felt something akin to dread in the pit of stomach. He glanced at Kravitz, who looked confused.  
  
“My man wanted to be a conductor,” Taako said after a moment’s hesitation.  
  
“Correct! He wanted to make it big. Conduct his music, play for the world, fame and glory and everything in between. But, as you know, things took a... slightly different turn.” And yeah, Taako’s intestines were definitely knitting themselves into a nice scarf or something.  
  
“He and his family were murdered the night before he conducted his first symphony.” Goosebumps rose on Taako’s skin at the mention of it. He knew this story, of course, but hearing his husband’s death so bluntly described made the uneasiness build up inside him. “He wanted to avenge the lives of his family, and the Raven Queen allowed him to, on the condition that he would serve her for eternity.”  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
“Okay,” Taako said. “You’re acting like I don’t know this. Can we, uh, get to the point?”  
  
“The point is this: If you had a choice, Taako, which fate would you give him?”  
  
There was snap of fingers, and Taako’s gaze met Kravitz’s for a split second before everything was fading and Taako felt the distinct sensation of falling despite standing perfectly still. There was a loud rushing of wind in his ears, and a searing pain in his head, and for a second there was nothing, just empty blackness and noise and hurt and then—  
  
His surroundings slowly came back into focus around him and oh gods, he thought he might throw up. Unsteady, disoriented and more than a little nauseous, he blinked a few times against the sudden onslaught of sunlight. Wait.  
  
Sunlight? Taako shielded his eyes enough to look around. Yes, that was sunlight, shining from a blue sky down onto soft green grass. By his feet was a worn dirt road, and he followed it with his eyes to see a small town, a little ways in the distance. He turned in a full circle.  
  
“Welp,” he said aloud. “I’ve a feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore.”


	2. dancing jigs until i’m crippled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako sees a familiar face, and makes a promise.

It was a nice day, technically speaking. Not in the sense of the experience of the day, which fucking sucked, but in the sense of the weather? It was a nice day. Sunny and clear, just warm enough that Taako didn’t feel the need to pull his cloak tighter around him. It was almost... ominously nice. But that might have just been the underlying knowledge that this was some kind of Wonderland trial.

Obviously he was still supposed to travel into town. Which made him consider the possibility of walking the opposite direction and just getting as far away from it as possible. A great concept.

Except. He didn’t know where Kravitz was. And he knew Kravitz was here, somewhere, because Lydia had made it very clear that this mini-game had something to do with him. So if Kravitz wasn’t here, he had to be in town.

Taako swallowed down his apprehension and forced his legs to carry him into town.

There were a couple people milling about, dressed in strange clothes (not that he was one to judge, he was wearing torn leopard print leggings, a crop top and a badly burnt cloak). Everything about this place looked... old. Like something out of a dusty photograph. There were no street lamps, no cobblestone. It was pretty, sure, but it made him uneasy. He didn’t recognize this place, and he’d been... a lot of places.

There was a large board on the side of the road right as you entered, laden with hand drawn fliers and notices about a variety of events. A new shop opening up, selling custom corsets (rad) and bonnets (not rad, people still wore bonnets? The fuck? He’d have to do some public service announcements about this issue when this whole thing was over). Cooking lessons from someone named Jeremiah Holland (gross, unnecessary, if people wanted to learn to cook they should go to a professional) and a job opening for a nanny. A traveling venue show for kids, a new curfew law, a symphony written and conducted by—

Taako’s blood ran cold. He plucked the flier off of the board.

_An Evening of Wonder!_

_This Friday, come and see Wonder Symphony, written and conducted by Macallister Kravitz and performed by the Grimsby Symphony Orchestra! Dinner and wine will be served._

_Grimsby Auditorium  
6:30pm_

Taako read it three times over.

Something was wrong, and he didn’t want to jump conclusions about what, but Kravtiz was not big on conducting nowadays. And this? This town? This so called “Grimsby”? He’d been there, during his time doing Sizzle It Up, and it didn’t look like this. The town he had visited had been bustling, with clean streets and a militia so well organized they’d searched his stagecoach before he could enter.

He folded up the flier and tucked it into a pocket in his cloak.

Okay, if this wasn’t Grimsby, then the first thing he needed to do is figure out where the fuck he was. He turned to walk into town and ask around—

And immediately crashed into someone. He took an unbalanced step backwards before steadying himself.

“Yo, man, watch where you’re—“ The words catch in his throat.

“I could say the same to you,” Kravitz replied.

“Krav!” Taako said, relieved. “There you are, I was looking for—“

“Sorry, do I know you?” Taako froze, looking up at Kravitz, and it registered in his brain that Kravitz looked... different. His black reaper’s cloak had been replaced by a white button up with frills and his locs were loose, framing his face. He was slouching slightly... Kravitz didn’t do slouching. Even his eyes seemed different, in a way Taako couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Uh... Sorry, my man, thought you were someone I...” He trailed off. Kravitz was still frowning at him, when a voice sounded from behind both of them.

“Krav, someone took it down again.”

“Oh, blast it all,” Kravitz mumbled under his breath. Taako turned to see a young girl, maybe eight or nine, with two braids pulling her hair back from her face and the same dark skin as Kravitz.

“Someone took what down, pumpkin?” he asked the girl.

“The flier for Krav’s symphony.” Taako’s eyebrows raised as his hand hovered over his pocket. Probably best not to say anything. Kravitz pushed past him and laid a land on the girl’s shoulder.

“Nivea,” he said quietly but sharply. “What did Mother say about talking to strangers?” Nivea shrugged his hand off.

“How come you can and not me?” Kravitz sighed. Taako watched the two of them closely. Right, this was... Okay, Nivea was Kravitz’s sister, which meant... Taako didn’t even know what that meant.

Or maybe he did, but didn’t want to admit that the clues were starting to add up.

“Um, did you say, uh, symphony?” Taako asked. Kravitz sighed again, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Yes, I’m conducting a symphony tomorrow night. Not that anyone would know, because some blasted kids keep taking the fliers down.” Taako’s mind was racing. He needed a good lie to get information and he needed it fast.

“Oh, yes, the conductor!” he said. Kravitz stood a little straighter, looking mildly interested now. Taako held out a hand. “I’m Justin Kessler, the chef for tomorrow night. So sorry about earlier.”

A polite smile bloomed on Kravitz’s face as he took his hand.

“Oh, I apologize as well, I’ll admit I’m a bit stressed at the moment. It’s nice to meet you, Justin.” Nivea crossed her arms, looking vaguely irritated as her brother shook his hand.

“Same here.” Taako took a breath, preparing for the question he really needed to ask. “What have you got to be stressed about? Haven’t you done this before?”

And look, Taako may have been an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid. The pieces of this puzzle were practically assembling themselves before him. So the next words out of Kravitz’s mouth didn’t surprise him one bit.

“No, I, actually, this is my first,” he said, a hand coming to the back of his neck.

“Ah,” Taako says, fighting to keep the smile plastered on his face. “I’m excited to hear it, my man.” Kravitz’s smile was tight, almost a grimace.

“Thank you. I actually have to, uh, we have to get another flier to hang up, so...” He shuffled a few steps away, gesturing to Nivea to follow.

“Of course, Justin gets it. Oh hey, but before you go, do you have the time?” Kravitz nodded, pulling out a pocket watch— fucking pocket watch, for gods sakes—and glancing at it. 

“It’s about five till ten.”

“Thanks. See you around.” Kravitz nodded and hurried off, Nivea at his heels, leaving Taako standing alone. Lydia’s voice echoed in the back of his mind.

_If you had a choice, Taako, which fate would you give him?_

“Fuck,” he muttered.

Taako understood what this hellscape was now, at least.

Obviously he’d been sent into a demiplane created by Lydia, made to simulate the events of history. Which hurt his brain even to think, because reliving history was such a cliche trope for a villain to enact. Taako was a little bit tired of time-related shenanigans. But yeah, sent back in time to when Kravitz was alive. Or rather, sent back in time to the day Kravitz died. Which... sucked.

So the point of this was to push him to make a choice, right? He could let Kravitz and his family die tonight, or he could save him.

But him being in a demiplane was only one of two possibilities. The other was that Lydia had legitimately sent him back in time. And that would be so much worse.

Because if this was real, and he stopped Kravitz from dying tonight, that would mean... they would never meet. Kravitz would live, and probably become famous, and maybe fall in love, before dying an ordinary death and never swearing his life to the Raven Queen.

And the thing was, Taako wasn’t sure what Kravitz would want. Because Taako was hella sure that handsome conductor he’d just met would definitely not love the whole dying and vengeance and centuries of loneliness thing. But Kravitz, his Kravtiz... he was happy. Right?

But gods, the way Kravitz talked about music sometimes, about conducting... He loved it. He’d wanted it. A lot.

If Taako discounted what he thought Kravitz would choose, he was left with what he wanted. Could he really deal with the loss of his husband from his life? There was the option of lying. Pretending he’d tried to stop it and failed. But no, Lydia probably had Kravitz watching from a plasma TV scroll.

The image of Kravitz yelling at Taako like he was a horror movie character about to make a horrible mistake made him smile, and come to a decision.

This wasn’t a contest, really. There was obviously a right and a wrong. A selfish and selfless.

“Krav, I deserve husband of the year for this,” he said quietly, in case his husband actually could hear him. “Natch.”

He took a deep breath, tilting his head from side to side. “But, uh... yeah. I’ve decided. I’m going to solve your murder. And I’m going to stop it.”

Around him, the wind almost seemed to scoff.


	3. just a loner, baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako chats with a bartender, pretends to be a detective.

Taako cast disguise self first of all, and gave himself a dope period dress, because how on earth was he going to sleuth without a dope period dress? It would be impossible.

Then he hurried into town.

He tried to remember everything he knew about Kravitz’s death. Admittedly it wasn’t much, both because Kravitz had talked about it like, twice, max, and because he didn’t actually remember everything about it.

_I was rehearsing in my room, looking for any last mistakes in the score before going to sleep, but then I heard the back door open and close, and when I was going downstairs to check, I just remember this bright light, and this crashing sound. When I woke up, I was dead, and the house had burnt to the ground._

Kravitz had taken a shaky breath after telling that story, like he’d forgotten he didn’t need to breathe, and Taako had felt so helpless in the face of this, like there was nothing he could do.

_Well, fuck that,_ he thought with a shrug. Krav’s death was Taako’s play space now, and you could bet your ass he was going to get his meddling elf hands all up in it.

He pushed his way into a seedy looking bar, glancing around at the tables. Seeing no one that looked particularly helpful, he walked up to the counter, where a woman in maybe her mid forties was drying a glass.

“What can I do you for, chap?” the woman asked.

“Glass of chardonnay if you’d be so kind. Hey listen, uh, I’m also looking for some information.”

“Hmm?” the woman hummed as she swiped a bottle from a shelf.

“I’m looking into an arson case.” She slammed the bottle down on the counter, causing Taako to flinch. She was looking at him with interest.

“The serial killings?” she asked. Taako jumped on that lead.

“Yes, those ones,” he agreed. The woman nodded, looking grim.

“A damn tragedy. You part of the militia?” Taako was absolutely sure there was a right answer here, and he wasn’t sure what it was but he made a quick guess.

“Nah, I’m actually more of a private eye if we’re being honest.” The woman smiled. Right choice.

“Good, can’t stand those pigs.” She stuck out her hand. “The name’s Bernice. Whaddaya wanna know?” Taako was delightfully surprised. He’d basically never been this successful on a mission.

“How many victims have been hit?”

“Only two houses, so far. But I got a feeling in my gut there’ll be more before this is over.”

“Right, right. Um, do you know anything about the victims? Who’s being targeted, and all that?” Bernice gave a sideways shrug.

“Sorry, chap. You know what, you should talk to that godawful sheriff, he’d probably know more than me.” Taako frowned.

“Sheriff?” Large militias didn’t usually operate under sheriffs. Just how small did Grimsby used to be?

“Yeah, Rogers. He may not be competent but he does know all the details of the cases. Tell him Bernice sent ya. He’ll be down at the station at this time of day. You know the way?” Taako downed the rest of his glass in a very un-sophisticated manner.

“I’m sure I’ll find it. Thanks, bubelleh.”

“Wait, uh, you are gonna pay for your dri—“ But Taako was already out the door, because about two sips in he’d realized he had no money on him.

Okay, so the plan. Find the sheriff, find out about the serial victims, find the pattern and figure out how Kravitz fit into it. Figure out who the killer was, and save the day. Return to sad lonely existence knowing he’d done the right thing for once.

Right. Okay. Taako had this in the bag.


	4. curled up died and now it’s rotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get,, a little wild let’s go

“Are you here to file a report?” asked the disgruntled looking halfling—whom Taako could only assume was Sheriff Rogers, seeing as there was no one else in the station—sitting behind the desk at the station. It had taken Taako a bit to find because the signs in this gosh darn place were faded as hell. But after a quick stop to ask someone directions he’d found it no problem.

“Nah,” he said. “I’m actually here for information on the serial arson cases. Bernice sent me.” The halfling’s eyebrows raised, and he glanced up, looking like a surface of calm over an ocean of irritated.

“Tell Bernice two cases is not a series, kid. I have work to do.” And nope, that was not gonna do it.

“Well, actually I’m not leaving. I don’t know what you guys here are busy doing but I’m cracking this today and I need info.”

At that Rogers put a hand to his temples, massaging vigorously as he muttered something in another language.

“Listen, kid—“

“That’ll be Justin to you, thug.” A sigh.

“Listen, Justin, the force is overworked and understaffed right now. The last thing I have time for is some out of towner grilling me about my citizens’ deaths.” But Taako wasn’t giving up.

“Look, all I need is in—“

“This is not a discussion kid, get outta here.”

“But Bernice said you could—“ Rogers stood up, hands braced on his desk, but Taako had to keep himself from laughing because like—he had to be standing on his chair right? There was no other explanation for how tall he was right now.

“If you haven’t figured it out yet, Bernice isn’t too fond of me.” Taako forced down an absolutely stupid joke about Bernice being short with him.

“Yeah that checks,” he said. “But...” He decided to play the emotions card. One of these goddamn cards had to work, right? “This isn’t just for kicks,” he said, a tad dramatically. “Someone I lo—“ he coughed, the words catching in his throat. “Someone I know is in danger.” The sheriff’s attention went rapped. “And something bad is going to happen if I don’t put a stop to this.” Rogers looked around nervously, before bringing a hand up to the back of his neck.

“Look,” he said after a moment. “I—I wish I could help, but it’s just too—“

A rag hit him square in the face.

“Just give him the damned information, Lewis,” said a voice from the doorway. Rogers—or Lewis—swiped the rag from his face and dropped it onto the floor.

“Bernice. Pleasure to see you, as always.”

“Cut the crap. This kid wants to catch a serial killer you haven’t even made a move on, tell him what he needs to know. I’d trust him to do it better than you could.” Taako frowned at being called kid yet again (he was four-hundred and eleven, for fucks sake), and tried to interject but was quickly silenced by Bernice. “Quiet you. And I’m still making you pay for that drink.”

Lewis pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Bernice, there’s no serial killer! These are two separate cases, weeks apart, nothing in common except—“

“Except for the houses both burning down? Yes, I noticed that too.” Taako felt a tingling on his skin, like goosebumps but sharper, and with a quick glance he realized he was invisible. He looked up to see Bernice wink at him.

“Bernice,” said Lewis, who absolutely did not notice that Taako had vanished. Taako began to creep behind the desk, careful with his footfalls as not to stir up dust from the grimy floorboards. “You can’t just storm in here and demand we waste resources on—“

“Oh, do you want to talk about wasting resources, Lewis? Is that what you want to discuss?” Lewis straightened.

“Bernice—“

“No, that sounds good to me. How ‘bout this: _Four Junior Officers Killed on Suicide Mission, Sheriff Dictates ‘A Necessary Sacrifice.’_ How does that sound for waste of resources?” Lewis’s face was red with anger.

“You can’t bring up Wheltsworth every time you want to win an argument, Bernice,” he said, every word forcibly even. He had files on his desk he wasn’t paying attention to, and Taako began to rifle through them.

“Or how about this one: _‘Third Fire in Serial Arson String Leaves More Dead, Sheriff Won’t Budge.’_ I have connections in the Neverwinter press, Lewis. If this blows up, I can destroy you. I’ll have you out of the job so fast you’ll get whiplash.”

Taako found seven reports for recent deaths, all fire victims. He plucked the pieces of paper out of the stack and folded them, tucking them into his pocket.

There was an icy silence as Taako snuck out of the station. He mouthed _thank you_ to Bernice before he left. She didn’t say anything to give him away, but her eyes followed him as he went.

When Taako got out of the station, he began to go through the papers as he walked. Okay, seven victims, looked like one drow, two gnomes, an elf and three humans. Various ages, classes—“

“Oh!” he heard a voice exclaim milliseconds before colliding into the speaker. He stumbled back, looking at his hands to confirm that yes, his invisibility had just worn off. And for the second time that day, he’d crashed into someone. “What were yo—Justin?”

For the second time that day, he’d crashed into _Kravitz_.

“Oh hey, Kravitz, my man, how, uh. How are you?”

Kravitz was sputtering. “W—Why were you—wait, did—Did you change clothes? Wait, stop, wait, _why_ were you _invisible_? I—“ He seemed to notice the papers in Taako’s hands. “Are those— _militia files_? What kind of caterer _are_ you?”

Taako waited until he’d tired himself out before answering.

“Well, first of all yes, I changed, I was feeling a bit underdressed. Second of all, I’m the kind of caterer that would like to ask you a few questions about the fire victims, if you have the time.”

Kravitz thankfully seemed to recognize the implication that Taako was some kind of detective working with the militia, which was complete bullshit but Taako was digging that it was working so well so far. Kravitz glanced at his pocket watch, a bit nervously, before glancing back up.

“I... I have a bit of time, yes.” Taako smiled.

“Great.”

Kravitz offered his arm, looking uncomfortable, and Taako took it almost immediately, still grinning.

He never had been able to resist a fella with a pocket watch (apparently).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any.......... theories?? ;)


	5. i’m gonna miss you when you’re gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krav and Taako go on a date (?), lots of exposition, Krav is an anxious motherfucker

Kravitz took him to a bakery.

Not a good one, but Taako didn’t hold it against him, because at this point in time he had never had Taako’s baking.

They sat at a small table in the corner, with ceramic glasses of tea and a small wooden bowl between them filled with what might have been the shittiest scones in existence. Kravitz was stiff and overly formal, only talking when Taako asked a direct question and halfway hiding behind his satchel, which balanced precariously at the edge of the table.

That is, until Taako got him talking about the symphony. Then he wouldn’t shut _up_ , talking endlessly about what it represented and about the orchestra and the dynamics and symbolism. Taako tried to find it in him to be annoyed but it was... very endearing, if he was being honest (which he absolutely was _not_ ).

What a nerd.

Taako tried to remind himself that he sort of had a mission here. He wondered distantly if there was a way to steer this conversation back toward the two arsons. But when he couldn’t find one he was more than content to just stare, listening to Kravitz. As he spoke Taako had the opportunity to look closer at him. The thing Taako had found strange in his eyes, he realized, was the color. They were still brown, but the eyes Taako was used to had a reddish sort of hue, while these contained soft flecks of golden yellow.

Eventually the babbling petered out, and Kravitz smiled, embarrassed.

“Sorry, I’ve talked a lot. I have a lot of nervous energy.”

“You’re good, you’re good,” Taako reassured him. “It sounds. It sounds really amazing. Can’t wait to hear it.” And something in his heart pinches because even if he saved Kravitz, there was no way in hell Lydia was going to let him stay here long enough to hear it.

“Thank you.” After that there was silence and Taako seized that moment.

“So, uh. Back to the arson cases?” Kravitz frowned.

“The... the fires?”

“Correct-a-mundo.” Kravitz nodded.

“Honestly, I don’t know a lot, I’ve been pretty busy the past couple weeks. But I know the first fire was at Emily Wong’s house, the woman who ran the spell components shop. She was having a dinner party and only a couple people made it out.”

“There were survivors?” Taako asked.

“Yeah, one or two. Emily was one of the ones who died, I didn’t know the others, except, I think one was Deputy Higgs, because he and Emily were going steady.”

Taako took note of the phrase ‘going steady’ and made a conscious effort not to comment on it.

“Okay, okay, do you know any of the survivors? I need to talk to them and see if they can tell me anything about—“

Kravitz cut him off. “Well, no, I don’t, and... Sorry, can I just... you’re treating this like...” Kravitz sighed. “Have you been talking with Bernice?” he asked. Taako frowned.

“I have, actually.” Kravitz nodded.

“Look, I... it’s important to understand that Bernice has a sort of reputation in town. She can be a bit... eccentric. It used to harmless conspiracy theories, but after Wheltsworth... she’s tried to get Sheriff Rogers fired a few times. These aren’t... these aren’t serial arsons, Justin, they’re a coincidence that Bernice has connected in her mind to make Rogers seem incompetent.”

Taako nodded, thinking about how Kravitz was going to die in a fire tonight, and wow, was this what dramatic irony was?

“What’s Wheltsworth?” he asked, changing the subject now that he knew Kravitz’s perspective on the fires. “I heard Rogers mention it earlier.”

Kravitz grimaced.

“The Wheltsworth project was a militia investigation that went south a few years back. They sent junior officers into the field on a case that revealed itself to be... volatile. A lot of them died.” Kravitz paused but Taako could tell there was more. “Bernice’s younger brother was one of them.” Taako exhaled. Damn, so there was some backstory to her hatred of the sheriff.

“Wow. That’s some dark shit.” There was no reply, and when he looked up Kravitz was staring at him. “What, do I have something on my face?”

“No, you—you just say the strangest things, I—Where did you say you were from?”

“I didn’t, actually. I’m from, uh—“ Taako was, thankfully, cut off by a very loud vibration. It rattled the table slightly, and Kravitz sat up straight, reaching into his satchel and fishing out what had to be the largest stone of farspeech Taako had ever seen. It was almost too big for him to hold in one hand, and as Kravitz stood up to take the call Taako had to restrain himself from laughing.

“Hi,” he heard Kravitz say from a few feet away. “Is everything alright?” There was a pause. Kravitz sighed, bringing a hand up to his temple, and the smile faded from Taako’s face. “Please remind him again that I’ve made up my mind.” A shorter pause. “Then—then just say I’m busy today. Tell him I’m preparing for the concert.”

Another pause and then a loud sigh. “Mother, please, not you too... I’m—I’m aware of that. But he entrusted the business to me, and this is not your decision to make, nor his, nor Young’s... We’re not discussing this anymore, I have the papers written up and I’m meeting Ms. Flanders tomorrow to sign. Goodbye.”

He shoved the stone back into his satchel and slumped back into his seat, rubbing a hand over his face.

“I don’t suppose there’s a chance you didn’t hear that?” he asked.

“Every word, my dude,” Taako replied quietly. “Is something wrong?” Kravitz’s smile was tight.

“Just a lot of things happening at once, I suppose. I inherited my father’s company about a year back, and tomorrow I’m finalizing its sale.”

“Tomorrow...” Taako repeated slowly, because shit, he guessed this was something else he’d have to look into. “Selling, to, uh, Ms. Flanders? Who’s that?”

Kravitz rested his cheek on one hand while stirring his tea with the other. “A powerful businesswoman from Neverwinter. She offered a lot, and I don’t really care about the business. It’s a lot of work to manage, and I... I’d like to be a conductor full time, one day. But everyone thinks I’m making the wrong decision.”

It’s hard, Taako didn’t realize it would be so hard, seeing his husband upset like this and not being able to make him his favorite dinner or wrap his arms around him or murmur something sweet he would deny saying afterwards.

Instead he said, “Fuck, dude. Sorry. For the record, I think you should do what makes you happy.” Kravitz looked up from his tea.

“Are you doing what makes you happy?” And Taako froze, thinking, for a second, that Kravitz knew everything, knew the choice Taako was making.

“What.”

“The, um. The catering. Does that make you happy?”

“Oh,” Taako says with a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah, cooking is kind of my whole shtick, y’know? I couldn’t really imagine not doing it.” Kravitz nodded thoughtfully.

“Well, thank you for the advice. It’s appreciated.” And _there_ was that small smile that Taako would one day fall in love with.

“No problem...” said Taako, a bit caught off guard.

“Well, it’s, um. It’s been nice. I have to go rehearse with the orchestra, but... maybe I’ll see you soon?” Taako smiled.

“Yeah, sure, my dude. I’ll be around.”

“Right.” Kravitz stood, but before he could grab his bag the door to the bakery opened, and a dwarven man in a pressed suit entered. Kravitz froze a moment, before standing a little straighter and balancing his expression. “Elijah Young,” he said quickly to Taako. “My father’s business partner.”

The dwarven man headed straight for their table.

“Kravitz, I’ve been looking for you,” he said with a cold smile.

“Oh, well, I have been very busy. Big day tomorrow.” The man glanced at the cups of tea on the table, raising an eyebrow.

“Clearly.”

“As a matter of fact,” Kravitz continued, pulling on his coat, “I actually have to leave right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, so I’ll just—“

“Well, wait just a minute, I just wanted to talk with you, real quick, try to convince you one last time to keep the business running.” Kravitz’s eyes were flicking back and forth between Elijah and the door, looking for escape. Taako could see the panic in his posture, in his eyes, and knew he had to step in. “We’re really starting to—“

“Hey, my man,” Taako, said, standing up. “I’m not sure if you heard, but this guy’s got places to go. He doesn’t have time to talk right now.” Elijah was still smiling but when he glanced at Taako his eyes said _stay out of this_. 

Kravitz took a deep breath, seeming to regain his resolve. “I’m sorry, Elijah. As I’m sure my mother has told you, my mind is made.”

Elijah pursed his lips.

“Yeah, thought you’d say that. Couldn’t hurt to try, though. Sorry to bother you.” Elijah bumped the table as he turned to leave, knocking off Kravitz’s satchel in doing so. Papers and coins spilled out onto the floor. “Aw, blast it all—sorry, sorry, let me...”

Kravitz and Elijah both gathered up the items from the floor and placed them back in Kravitz’s bag.

“I’ll get out of your hair now, sorry again.” As Elijah left, Kravitz looked through the satchel, pulling out a few papers and sighing in relief.

“Well, he didn’t try to steal the forms.”

“Always a good thing.” Taako said with a laugh.

“I mean, I could have just gotten new ones if he had, but it would have been a hassle, I... thank you, for stepping in when you did. I was a couple seconds away from sitting back down.” Taako hid a smile. He supposed Kravitz had always been an anxious bastard.

“No problem, bubbeleh. Have a nice rehearsal.”

“Thank you.” And with that, Kravitz was gone.

Damn, with no distractions, Taako supposed he actually had to solve the murder now.


	6. if i stop now call me a quitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> taako goes into a shop, pisses off a miner, solves a murder (??)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof this is a... fun one,, enjoy

Taako had facts. Only some of them, and a lot of them probably weren’t relevant to the event that was going to happen in—he checked his watch—five hours. But they were still facts, and he didn’t want to discount anything.

Okay.

A few years ago Bernice’s brother died, and now she hated the sheriff or whatever. Maybe the militia in general? But definitely mostly him. She thought these fires were the work of a serial killer, while Rogers thought they were unconnected. Taako owed her money for a drink.

Two houses had been burned down, and six people had died (that he knew of). He had the victims’ files, and hadn’t found any patterns so far.

Kravitz was selling his father’s company, and a lot of people didn’t want him to, including his mother and his father’s business partner. He was signing those papers tomorrow to sell it to a business woman in Neverwinter. Then he was conducting his first symphony that night. He currently thought Taako was catering at the event, though he may have suspected that that was a cover, if only for some kind of militia detective work.

Tonight Kravitz’s house was going to go up in flames. Or it wasn’t, if Taako had anything to say about it.

If Taako stopped this, Kravitz would fulfill his dreams of being a conductor, of being famous and performing for the world. He’d be... he’d be happy.

If Taako let it happen, he’d see his husband again.

Taako didn’t know what Kravitz would choose if he were here, all he knew is that he didn’t want to be the one to rob Kravitz of his dreams. Of his life. The fact of the matter was that Kravitz was one of the few people on this planet that didn’t deserve death.

So it was up to him. He left the bakery in search of more info, someone who would talk to him. He ended up wandering into random shops and seeing if the owners would engage when he struck up conversation, but didn’t have much luck.

That is, until he walked into a shop with a sign above the door reading ‘Mine and Dine’. The shop was tended by a half orc woman, who was sitting behind the counter looking bored as all hell. She perked up when he entered.

“Welcome! How can I assist you?” Taako looked around. It was mining supplies galore up in here. He hadn’t even known there was a mine in this town but then again, he hadn’t done a whole lot of exploring.

“No restaurant?” Taako asked. The woman frowned.

“Excuse me?”

”The sign says Mine and Dine. I only see the mine.” There’s a pause, and then the woman cracked a wide smile.

”Okay, that was a good one, I’ll give you that. You from out of town?” He nodded. ”I’m Ariana. I didn’t name the shop.”

“Justin.”

“Pleasure. Are you buying anything or did you just want to make fun of the sign?” she asked dryly. Taako shrugged.

“Could you tell me anything about the fire victims?” The smile vanished from Ariana’s face.

“Wha—why do you want to hear about that?” Taako took a pickax off the wall and twirled it between his fingers a few times.

“I’m actually, um, doing a bit of investigation into ‘em. Any info you could give would be very appreciated, names, ages, families I could get in touch with.”

Ariana’s eyes flicked between Taako’s face and the pickax in his hands for a few beats.

“Um. The survivors too, or just the ones who uh, didn’t make it?”

“Just the victims for now, we can talk survivors later.” She nodded slowly.

“Well, uh. Alana Harris was the only one in the fire from a few nights ago. I didn’t know her all that well, but I used to be drinking buddies with her brother. He’s up in Neverwinter, but he’s probably coming down for the funeral, if you wanna talk with him then.” Well, that was no good. He nodded at her to continue.

“Okay, uh... Emily Wong ran the spell components shop. Doesn’t make much difference to me, but it was the only one in town. And then Deputy Higgs and all his buddies, I—“

The door slammed open and a grouchy looking tiefling shuffled in.

“Hey Ariana,” they said gloomily.

“Hello again Sam. Weren’t you just—“

“I need a new load of dynamite, we were parked out at the mines and someone managed to snag the whole crate.” Ariana’s eyebrows raised.

“Wow, that takes some skill.” Sam scowled.

“Yeah, yeah, very crafty. Do you have another box?” Ariana nodded with a smile, like she was immune to the tiefling’s sullen comments.

“Sure do. It’s in the back, just a moment.”

Taako was left in the front room with Sam, who was looking him up and down.

“Who the hell are you?” they asked. Taako gave his most disarming smile.

“The name’s Justin Kessler. Private eye.” Sam gave him a disdainful look.

“Huh.”

It was then that Taako noticed they had a bandage wrapping up their entire left arm, and right at the edge he could see the angry red of a burn.

“Wait, were you one of the survivors?” he asked excitedly. “From Wong’s house fire?” If Sam saw anything that night, Taako actually had a chance at solving this.

The icy gaze Sam fixed him with could have put out any fire.

“I don’t see how that’s any business of yours, _detective_ ,” they said with a snarl. Taako was saved from responding by the sound of Ariana dropping a crate onto the counter.

“This enough?” she asked.

Sam inspected it. “Yes, that will do.”

“Great. And here, on account of the theft, I’ll give you a five percent discount,” Sam rolled their eyes.

“Gee, thank you Ari. Your generosity knows no bounds.” They handed her a few gold pieces and grabbed the crate, glaring at Taako one last time as they passed him on their way out.

“Well, they were quite the ray of sunshine,” Taako said after a moment. Ariana shook her head, looking sad.

“Sam’s a miner. They’re not—usually they’re—“ She cut off with a sigh. “It’s been a hard couple weeks. Emily was a good friend o’ theirs, and right now with the militia so understaffed there are more thefts down in the mines than ever. Everywhere actually, just last week someone broke in and stole three canisters of oil. Must have lost me about fifty GP’s.” Taako nodded, feeling a little bad about his comment, but then he frowned as the words sank in.

Rogers had said the same thing about the militia being understaffed.

“Hey, uh, what do you mean, understaffed?” he asked.

“Oh, well, Emily and the deputy were an item, so the dinner party was mostly friends from the force. And Harris was one of the best officers in the militia, she’d been there for years. It wasn’t a huge force to begin with, and—“ A clang cut her off as Taako dropped the pickax onto the floor.

“Cool, cool, cool,” he said, backing out of the store. “Um, if you’ll excuse me for just a moment—“ and he was out of there.

He walked quickly in the direction of the militia’s station. If he was right, if these murders were really connected by this, he could convince Sheriff Rogers that there really was a serial killer on the loose. Then maybe there would actually be motivation to catch them, and put a stop to this.

The sheriff’s station was in sight when he heard someone behind him. He spun around, but it was only Bernice, who threw her hands up placatingly.

“Woah, woah, it’s okay, I’m not mad about the drink money. I just wanted to know how the case is going. Any progress?”

Taako narrowed his eyes. Now that he had a case, his number one goal was to get to the office. He didn’t have time for distractions, and he wasn’t going to spill all his secrets for this stranger just because she was on his side.

“Yes, I’ve figured out the connection between the arsons,” he said, the words ripped from his throat. Bernice nodded, looking enraptured, and Taako suddenly realized that he’d been Zone of Truth’d. He threw his hands over his mouth. “Almost all of the victims were militia officers,” he continued, and the words seemed to spill right through his fingers.

And as he spoke the words out loud, the pieces fell into place, and alarm bells went off in his mind, and shit, he had to, he had to run, he had to _run_. He turned, feet skidding on the dirt, as his lips continued to move without permission. “So whoever set the fires must really hate—“

Something hard smacked into the side of his head, and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took a bit of liberties with zone of truth, but uh. at least we know who the murder person is now i guess?


	7. now you’ve gotten in my way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it’s not great folks
> 
> Tw for some violence and uhhh,, death

Taako woke up to the feeling of liquid being spilled onto him.

It was dark and freezing and he didn’t know where he was, but his disguise spell had worn off so it was safe to say he’d been there a while. He was lying on cold stone and his hands were bound. He saw that the liquid was dark and thick, and was quickly staining his clothes black.

As he began to sit up a foot hit him in the chest and pushed him back to the floor, knocking the breath out of him. With his dark vision, he recognized Bernice.

“Why?” he said quietly.

“Keep your bloody mouth shut.” And Taako decided to comply while he figured things out. He looked around the room. There were two windows, high off the ground, almost ceiling level, letting a small bit of light into the room. One of them was shattered, and Taako saw glass on the floor beneath it. Bernice was still pouring liquid—oil, he realized—around him onto the floor. She was creating paths with it, to what Taako realized were wooden support beams.

Okay, so he was in a basement and about to be set on fire. So that was great.

He really only had one option while he tried to find a way out of this: stall for time.

“I just don’t get it, if we’re being honest here.”

“Shut up,” Bernice snapped.

“Or what? You’ll set me on— _oof_!” He choked out a breath as she kicked him in the ribs. Hard. Cool, so stalling for time wasn’t working great so far. But Taako was nothing if not persistent. If he could just get her monologuing about her motives, that would give him enough time to get free. So he tried again.

“Look, I get it, the militia was involved in your brother’s death, sort of, and now you want revenge. But why Emily? She wasn’t part of the force.” Bernice froze, turning around from where she was sprinkling oil.

“Emily... she wasn’t supposed to die,” said Bernice after a moment, and she had the gall to sound almost tearful about it. “I didn’t sedate her but she... she stayed in the house. She was trying to save her good for nothing boyfriend.” She spat out the words like they tasted rotten, and then turned her back to him.

“Was it worth it?” Taako asked. “Just to get one guy fired?” 

Bernice whirled around, making a sound akin to a growl.

“My brother is _dead_ because the officer in charge of this town’s safety is inept. He can’t run a force, he can’t make decisions, and he can’t protect shit. I don’t want to just get him fired. I want to destroy him.”

“ _With_ fire,” Taako inserted. Bernice stopped mid-rant. Taako expected another kick to the ribs, but instead she chuckled. The mood swing gave Taako whiplash.

“That was a good one, actually,” she said. “See, I knew I liked you. I really do think you’re more competent than that shithead Sheriff, even if I’ll admit I didn’t think you’d really solve the case.” Behind his back, Taako began to rub his tied hands around in the oil.

“So why kill me now? Rogers knows I was investigating, won’t that make it too obvious?” Bernice rolled her eyes as Taako began to ease his wrists, slick with oil, out of the rope.

“You really don’t get it, do you? I _want_ it to be obvious,” she said. “I want the answer to stare him in the fucking face and watch him fail anyway. I want the town to realize that even with the people closest to him being targeted, he won’t do shit. I want him to be run out of town. I want... justice.” She raised her hands, thumbs touching. Small flames appeared at the tips of each of her fingers, and she smiled. “And I’m going to get it, now.”

He just needed a couple more seconds...

“Why this house, though?” he asked, yanking his right hand free. “How are the Macallister’s involved in this?” Bernice’s eyes narrowed.

“Wha—“ And then Taako slammed her with a sound blast so hard she flew into the wall. She cried out, falling to her hands and knees as Taako scrambled to his feet, trying to not fall in the oil.

Bernice stood, raising her hands at him, and Taako, for a second, almost cast magic missile. But he realized that maybe in a room covered in oil that wasn’t the best idea. At the last second, he cast lightning bolt, which was much easier to aim and still dealt a good amount of damage.

It was a good hit. Every muscle in her body tensed in pain and she gritted her teeth. Taako smiled triumphantly, breathing heavy at the exertion. Then he yelped, ducking out of the way as she blasted a stream of fire straight at him. He dodged it, barely. The fire hit the oil, but before it could spread Taako cast control flame to extinguish it.

He took a deep breath before he heard the yell from behind him. He twisted around just as Bernice struck him with a knife, oh gods, where did she get a knife? The angle was pretty okay for him, hitting him in the side rather than straight into his back, but it still hurt like a motherfucker.

He grappled with her for the dagger, and she almost stabbed him again before he wrenched it from her grasp, and without hesitation, plunged it into her stomach.

The blade was just long enough for it to come out the other side. Taako yanked the knife out in a swift, fluid motion, and she fell back, blood beginning to pour from the wound. He didn’t care.

He wanted her to bleed.

Taako stayed in that basement until her breaths stopped entirely, and that’s when it began to hit him that he’d done it. He’d stopped the murderer. He’d saved Kravitz.

He’d never see his husband again.

Blood was pooling around his boots, mixing with the oil coating the floor. Any second now, Lydia would pull him back to the present, and Kravitz just... wouldn’t be there. Or maybe it would be worse than that. Maybe Kravitz not being there would mean that Lup and Barry were never pardoned, and they’d be gone. Hell, maybe Kravitz not being there meant they didn’t win against The Hunger, and everyone was dead.

The worst case scenarios flew around in his head, but the thought that stuck out was that even in the best, he still wouldn’t have Kravitz beside him. His throat felt tight as he waited for Lydia to interfere. And waited.

And waited.

And as the setting sun began to cast red and orange hues on the dead woman at his feet, he clenched his jaw.

He was still here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “show me what you have”
> 
> “a KNIFE!!”
> 
> “ ** _NO!!!!!!!_** ”


	8. it takes the truth to fool me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> taako ponders the consequences of what he’s done, has a revelation, makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I call this chapter..,, the pain chapter. buckle up
> 
> tw for death and explosions

He’d killed the murderer, but somehow, for some reason, Lydia had decided to give him more time.

Well, Taako certainly wasn’t going to waste that. He blinked out of existence and reappeared outside of the house. It was nice. A simple one-story, with white walls and a cute little picket fence around the yard. Taako could picture Kravitz living in a house like this.

Kravitz.

Taako trudged into town in a daze, his side beginning to throb from the knife wound. He almost didn’t think to cast disguise self again to hide his wounds and his oil stained clothes. _Stupid_.

He needed to find the sheriff, tell him about Bernice and her plan. Tie up the loose ends. Maybe once that was done he’d be able to leave. The sky was orange and pink, and something felt wrong about all of this. He ignored it.

As he walked to the station, he heard a voice call out to him. A voice he thought he’d never hear again.

“Justin!” He turned to see Kravitz, walking towards him. Taako frowned.

“I thought you’d be, uh, home, this time of day,” he said with a confused smile.

“I’m heading there now. Rehearsal ran a bit late.” Kravitz was smiling at him now, and Taako’s stomach was doing flips.

Okay, he had two options. Go talk to the sheriff about murder and arson and shit, or, spend time with his husband before he disappeared from Taako’s life forever.

“Hey, lemme, uh, walk you home?” Kravitz nodded, offering his arm, which Taako took in an instant, almost clinging to it.

As they walked through the town, past the sheriff’s station, Taako felt like he was in a weird dream. None of it felt real. He was still covered in oil, and some blood, and he was arm and arm with someone he he knew like the back of his hand but had barely known him for a day. Someone he wasn’t going to see again after tonight.

There was a buzzing feeling in his ears, an almost overwhelming sensation that this was all so _wrong_. The wrongness of it attacked him from all sides, and it was all he could do to keep his legs moving beside Kravitz.

They number of buildings began to decrease, and soon they were on the outskirts of town. There was grass out here, a couple trees. The sun was almost down, and there were actually a few fireflies flitting about lazily.

The buzzing feeling wouldn’t go away.

He caught himself staring at Kravitz a lot more than was safe if he wanted to not be suspicious. Kravitz was noticing too.

“Are, uh. Are you alright, chap?” And shit, you bet your ass Taako was going to tease his Kravitz about using the word chap.

Or, well, no, he wasn’t.

“I, uh—yeah, I’m good,” he said, gritting his teeth. Kravitz didn’t seem to believe him, but he didn’t press. Which reminded Taako just how considerate he was, and shit, he had always been appreciative of that but now that he’d thrown it away he—he’d never been _appreciative_ enough, and there was nothing he could do about it now.

Taako tore his gaze away from Kravitz’s worried frown.

Something in him felt... unsettled. And maybe it was because he had just killed someone, but no, it was more than that.

Maybe it was because he had just thrown away his one chance to be back with his husband. Maybe it was because when he looked beside him, Kravitz was right there, close enough to touch but so so different. Maybe it was the looming temporariness of the situation, the knowledge that at any moment he’d be pulled from existence. Maybe it was that he’d just changed time and none of this was supposed to be happening. Maybe it was that he didn’t recognize the woods around him, and he thought they were going to Kravitz’s house but hadn’t he just come from Kravitz’s house?

Maybe it was the feeling that this was too easy. Why was he still here? What was he doing here?

“Well, this is me,” Kravitz said through the buzzing. “Thank you for walking me. I’m... I’m glad I met you Justin. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure man,” Taako said, and even to him his voice sounded a million miles away. He didn’t move. Kravitz was digging around in his satchel.

“Aw, blast, I’ve lost my key,” he grumbled.

It was like a thread snapping.

“What?” Taako said, looking up at Kravitz and actually taking him in.

“Ugh, I think I must have dropped it in town. It’s fine, my family’s home, they can—Justin, are you alright?”

And no, no no no, Justin was not alright.

In fact, he was reeling.

No motive. That was the weird thing, right? Bernice Sinnoh didn’t have a motive to kill Kravitz and his family. None of them were part of the militia. She didn’t—she had no reason to burn their house down.

This house. This house that didn’t have a fence surrounding it, that was a blue-ish gray and two stories tall, this house on the opposite side of the town as the one Taako had come from.

This house Kravitz didn’t have a key to. And Taako was stumbling back, turning his head to the house, and maybe a human wouldn’t have caught anything but Taako had dark vision and Taako couldn’t possibly miss the way the curtains on one of the first story windows rustled like someone had been standing there watching them. Someone who had a key to Kravitz’s house. Someone who had stolen the key when he’d helped Kravitz with his bag, and was now standing inside, waiting for everyone to fall asleep so he could kill them all.

_I just remember this bright light, and this crashing sound._

The dynamite stolen from the mines.

Taako took a shaky breath in.

Because if Elijah Young killed them before the papers were signed the company would be his. And if Elijah Young killed them tonight, even when the cases were finally connected it would be written off as another victim of Bernice. If Elijah Young killed them tonight, if Elijah Young killed them tonight...

If Elijah Young killed them tonight, Taako would get to see his husband again. Would get to trail his fingers through his hair, trace his face, tell him he loved him. If he was lucky.

Kravitz spoke again. “Hey, um. I’m going to go inside. Get some rest, okay?”

And Taako needed to say something, get Kravitz away from here or call the authorities or do anything but—

But as Kravitz walked toward the house, Taako did nothing.

And around him, he swore he could hear the wind laugh.

Taako stood outside that house for many minutes after Kravitz closed the door behind him. He stood, and he waited, and for many minutes nothing happened. And then there was the sound of a door closing, and footsteps, and Taako saw him. Elijah Young, fleeing out the back door and into the forest.

Taako counted the seconds. Four, five, six, seven...

This was wrong, what was he doing?

“ _Wait_ —”

And then there was a flash of light, a loud boom that hit him like a wall of bricks, a wave of heat. Taako shielded his face as he was thrown back, landing face up in the dirt. He opened his eyes to see the house collapsing in on itself in a heap of flames. It was over.

It was over, and Taako had made his choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well now things are for real solved!! you’re welcome! also... sorry for the hit


	9. heart feels dead inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what do you even say after you let your loved one die?

To Lydia’s credit, she didn’t make him stick around after that.

She didn’t give him time to find and kill Elijah Young, but she also didn’t make him watch The Raven Queen appear to Kravitz’s soul, or wait for the militia to show up. She didn’t make him attend the funerals.

After the explosion Taako felt a tugging sensation deep inside him, felt hot air circle his body and then drag him down into the ground. And then he found himself standing in featureless darkness.

“Oh, wasn’t that fun?” Lydia’s voice echoed from all around. “You tried so hard to be selfless but in the end you chose just what I knew you would.”

Taako tasted bile in his throat. He could see the flames every time he closed his eyes, and the cheerful lilt in Lydia’s tone made him want to vomit. He swallowed hard.

“So,” he said, voice cracking. “Was that real?”

“You want to know if your decision made a difference,” she clarified. Taako looked at his feet. Nodded. “Yes, Taako. If you had said something he really would have lived. He really would have been famous, and he really would have died long before you came into the picture.”

Taako kept his gaze on his feet, as if that would stop him from thinking of that life he could have given to Kravitz. The happiness. Which led him to his other question.

“Does... um. Does Kravitz kn—“

“—know what you chose?” A high pitched laugh sounded and it made Taako’s stomach turn. Suddenly the black around him took form, and Lydia was standing before him. Even though there was no light in this place, he could see her clearly. “Dear, didn’t you already guess?” she asked. “Kravitz was watching the whole time.”

She snapped her fingers and there he was, wide-eyed and unaware of the two of them. There was firelight reflecting in his eyes and a horrified look on his face.

Taako’s breath hitched as his husband sunk slowly to his knees. There was this awful itching feeling all over his skin, like some vile insect was crawling all over him, and around him, and inside him, and he wished it would stop. He’d cost Kravitz his dream because he didn’t want to say goodbye. It would never stop.

Lydia was still laughing. “Oh, hon, quit it with the puppy dog eyes, will you? We’ve barely star—“ And then Lydia’s eyes widened, and the grin faded from her face before she disappeared with a pop, and Taako was alone.

Kravitz was still kneeling on the ground, looking distraught, firelight from a source Taako couldn’t see painting his eyes and his face and his clothes with orange and yellow. Taako knelt beside him slowly, and after a moment, laid a hand over his.

Instantly, the reflected light vanished. Kravitz jolted, and turned to look at him.

“Taako?” he said, and his voice was choked. Taako jerked his hand back, stumbling to his feet. He hadn’t meant for Kravitz to... to see him, he hadn’t wanted to be subject to Kravitz’s gaze. But Kravitz was looking straight at him now, also climbing to his feet. A relieved smile was creeping onto his face. “Taako, you’re okay!” The smile came in full force as Kravitz wiped his eyes. “Dear gods, I was terrified for a minute, you just disappea—“ He seemed to really see Taako for the first time, and a cloud crept over his features. “Taako, are you alright?”

“Peachy,” Taako spat, heart pounding. “Y’know, I just, I just fucking killed my husband, but, y’know, just another day at the office, I guess.” Why was Kravitz acting so nonchalant about this?

Kravitz’s face took on a layer of concern, and he took a step towards him. Taako took another step back, because if Kravitz touched him he might be able to feel that scratchy feeling crawling on Taako’s skin. This time, Kravitz stayed where he was.

“Taako... Taako, you didn’t—you didn’t _kill_ me.” Taako scoffed.

“Close enough.” Taako watched as Kravitz carefully held his arms at his sides to keep from reaching out, and he hated that, he hated that if he wanted to he could be held in Kravitz’s arms as if he deserved it.

“It wasn’t—“

“No, no, stop, do I need to—Do I need to fucking walk you through it? I, I watched you die, Krav! I watched you die and I could have stopped it but I didn’t and that’s, that’s fucked up, why aren’t you—why—“ He took a shaky breath. His eyes stung, but fuck that because he was not crying right now.

“No,” Kravitz said. “No, Taako, I didn’t _want_ you to stop it. I... I don’t want to live in a world where I don’t know you, I was watching the whole time and I was praying that you didn’t solve it, praying that I could just die and everything would be okay.” He smiled, tears gathering again in his eyes. “Everything’s okay,” he said, and he took another step towards Taako, opening his arms.

Taako practically recoiled, shrinking back from the offering of embrace. Kravitz lowered his arms immediately, the concern back in full force.

“Taako...” Taako was shaking his head, trying to gather his words.

“No, stop, I... Maybe you feel that way now, okay, sure. Maybe you decided you didn’t want the whole fame thing, but I can’t—I—Before, if you ever changed your mind, if you ever... regretted how everything turned out, there was no one to blame. It was just the way things happened. But now, if you were to decide in a year, or five, or fifty or three-hundred that you wanted something else, that you’re unhappy, that’s _my_ fault. It’s me you’re stuck with because I _chose_  to keep you stuck. And—and when you realize that, you’re not going to fucking—you’re not gonna be able to fucking look at me without seeing everything I took from you, and I can’t—I can’t deal with that, okay? I’d—I’d rather—“

_I’d rather lose you forever than let you stop loving me._

He couldn’t get the words out.

Everyone acted the most normal, the most happy, the most forgiving, right before they left. Right before everything went downhill.

He thought of Sazed, who had seemed so cheerful in the days leading up to Glamour Springs, Taako had actually started to think things were looking up between them. He’d seemed cheerful because he could afford to feign happiness for a few days until Taako was out of the picture. He thought of Lup, who hadn’t meant to leave him alone for so long but she did leave, and the last thing she had said to him was _thank you_.

He looked at Kravitz. Kravitz, who was looking at Taako like he’d just stabbed him in the fucking chest. Kravitz opened his mouth, closed it. After a moment, he nodded.

“So, I guess the reassurances department might come up a bit short on this one, huh.” Taako didn’t respond. Kravitz took a deep breath, nodded again, and sat down on the empty, black ground. He looked up expectantly.

Taako hesitated for a moment before taking a seat across from him, a few feet away. They were silent for a long while before Kravitz spoke, looking at his hands in his lap.

“Do you know what I remember about that night?” he asked. He paused for a moment, not like he was waiting for an answer, but like he was bracing himself. “I remember the anger. I was so angry, that someone could do that to my family...” Then he shook his head. “To me, I mean. I was angry because _my_ chance to become someone new, had, had been taken from me. I was angry and I didn’t really _care_ about avenging my family. I wanted revenge on the person who had wronged me. I sold my soul for that, Taako.”

Taako didn’t know what to say. It turned out he didn’t need to say anything, because Kravitz continued.

“When I look back on myself, my living self, I wish I had understood the value of acceptance. Of letting go, and trusting things would be okay. I never was one for trust, back then. I was nervous, and impatient, and I was so angry, about so much.” Kravitz smiled ruefully, before meeting Taako’s eyes.

“Taako,” he said. “You didn’t take that away from me today. You took that away from me when I first met you. When I first kissed you. When I first fought by your side. When I first married you, and first divorced you because you wanted to have a second, even better wedding. You taught me how to open up. How to accept change.

“Taako, I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet, but you make me _better_. I am the person I am today because of you. And Magnus, and Merle and Lup and Barry and everyone I met because of your influence in my life.”

He paused to wipe a hand over his eyes.

“When I think of my dream now, I don’t picture conducting. I don’t picture fame or recognition or my name on posters and banners, or anything in that vein. I picture... I picture this. This life, that I have, right now. With you. I picture spending the rest of my life, or, or death, or... eternity, just like this. With you.

“I... I know this might sound like an empty promise, Taako, but please believe me when I say that I... I would die as _many times_ as it took in order to meet you. Taako, I—I love you. I love the good times, and I love the bad times, and I love you so, _so_ much.”

And _oh_.

Taako would have spoken if not for the fact that he was pretty sure his brain had just short-circuited. There were no words that could match the magnitude of everything Kravitz had just said. He blinked a few times, and it didn’t stop the tears, it just pushed them out onto his cheeks.

Instead of trying to speak, Taako reached forward, and put his hand over Kravitz’s. It was warm. It was warmed by the love Kravitz felt for him, and Taako held his hand over his, accepted the heat. Accepted all of it. Taako didn’t know much. But he knew this felt okay. This felt right.

And as Taako looked up at his husband, his love, his darling, Kravitz smiled. A light shone through the darkness, until it overtook everything and Taako’s surroundings faded to white.

When he opened his eyes, Lup was standing over him.

“Oh thank the lady— _Barry, Taako’s up_!” Taako winced at the shouting.

“Kravitz is waking up too,” Taako heard Barry reply, and that caused him to jolt awake, suddenly remembering everything that had happened.

“Woah, woah, woah, how ‘bout you slow the _fuck_ down, dingus,” said Lup, a hand forcing him back down. “Lydia’s gone, you’re alright.”

“Wha... what happened?”

“Me and Barry kicked some ass is what happened. You guys were in some kind of coma or something for the past half hour. We’ve been trying all sorts of heal spells. We were getting sort of worried.” Taako nodded.

“Can I sit up?” he asked. Lup nodded, helping him get upright, and then hugged him tightly.

“Don’t scare me like that, again, Ko,” she said quietly. He nodded, wrapping his arms around her. She pulled away moments later. “Um, so yeah, we can leave when you guys are ready.”

He was on the floor of a dark stone chamber, the place he’d been trapped in for the past few days. Lydia was nowhere to be seen, almost definitely rotting in the Eternal Stockade by now. Good riddance.

He turned his head, and there was Kravitz, smiling still. Taako couldn’t help but smile too.

“We’re ready,” he said.

The thing about them was, they were happy. They went through the good times, and the bad times and they went through them together. And that was the way it should be, and the way it would be, for the rest of their eternities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s the end! 
> 
> Writing-wise it’s not my best work, but I was mostly focused on creating a fun and engaging mystery, so I hope that came through! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone for reading, and a special thanks to those who left comments, they made my day!! <3
> 
> If you have any questions, or just want to yell at me I’m on tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> HOo boy here we go,,
> 
> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, kudos and comments are always appreciated. I'm also on [tumblr.](https://theninthmember.tumblr.com)
> 
> Have a great day!!


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